Watchmaker Cornelius Lehr is dressed in a neat beige tunic shirt and dark pants, with a trim salt and pepper beard. But I suspect that under this immaculate appearance lurks a free-thinking hippie.
However, what I don’t need to speculate about is that he is an expert craftsman, or, in his words, “a Jack of all trades, a master of one”.
Cornelius describes himself as an “antiquarian horologist”, a specialist in the making and repair of antique time pieces.
I had gone to visit him to drop my beloved 30-year-old wall clock for repairs, and to collect a 100-year-old pocket watch he had repaired. I am thrilled with how the watch looks and works. As he explained the intricate work he put into its repair, I get a greater appreciation of his craftsmanship. Two tiny springs had to be replaced, as well as its glass cover. It was given new hour and second hands, and the balance wheel jewel was replaced. I feel privileged to own such a beautiful time piece.
I look around his workshop. its nooks and crannies are packed with small sets of drawers containing watch tools, old cigarette boxes filled with tiny watch bits, and glass bottles and jars are bursting with watchy things. Glass display cases contain clocks, while grandfather clocks line one wall. High shelves are stacked with unusual-looking clocks, and a door is decorated with rows of watch spanners of all sizes.
[[{"fid":"4171","view_mode":"media_adaptive","fields":{"format":"media_adaptive","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Wall of grandfather clocks - Cornelius Lehr"},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"media_adaptive","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Wall of grandfather clocks...
